Tragedy Terminology Sheet

CHS Honors English 10

Definition of a Tragic Hero

a literary character who makes an error in judgement often because of a fatal flaw, which, combined with fate and external forces, results in tragedy.

Tragic Hero Principle 1

Usually of a noble bloodline

Tragic Hero Principle 2

Usually has a hamartia

Tragic Hero Principle 3

Involved in peripeteia

Tragic Hero Principle 4

The hero faces anagnorisis

Tragic Hero Principle 5

The audience experiences catharsis

Hubris

Exaggerated self-pride, self-confidence, or overbearing pride, often resulting in fatal retribution. It was considered the greatest sin of the ancient world. Hubris is used today to refer to people who believe they are exempt from ordinary limitations on human behavior.

Hamartia

A protagonist’s positive personality trait that, due to excessiveness, brings about his tragic downfall.

Ate

The blind recklessness frequently displayed by tragic heroes who act impulsively and refuse to listen to the advice of others. This complicates the play’s conflict and leads to tragic outcomes of the plot.

Anagnorisis

The point at which a tragic hero becomes aware of, or accepts, the fact of his or her error in judgement. This often occurs near the climax of the tragedy’s conflict.

Reversal

The tragic hero’s change in behavior resulting from their recognition of error. In tragedy, the events set in motion by the tragic characters’ actions are generally too advanced for the hero’s reversal, of course, to bring about change.

Peripeteia

A sudden reversal of fortune or change in circumstances, especially in reference to a fictional narrative.

Nemesis

The force that bring down the powerful and arrogant.

Catharsis

Purging of the emotions of pity and fear that are aroused in the viewer of a tragedy.

The purpose of tragedy for a tragic hero

Is to learn wisdom and to accept their limitations as humans before the laws of the gods. In short, the high is to be brought low so they can see the roots of their error.

Purpose of tragedy for the audience

To experience pathos (the sympathy and sorrow felt by the audience for the tragic hero) or sympathy for the suffering experienced by the tragic hero as a result of his or her unwitting error in judgement.